On July 12, 14-year-old Sriram (name changed) of Palamaner in Chittoor district locked himself up in a room after he was reportedly chided by his parents for playing games on mobile continuously. The class IX student was later brought out and rushed to a hospital nearby but was declared brought dead.
Officials concluded that the trigger for Sriram’s extreme step was the confrontation with his parents and the inability to play a particular online game on the new mobile bought to attend online classes.
Across the State, for most families with children and teenagers, addiction to gaming has been a common problem for a long time and the current lockdown has only multiplied their woes.
Disorder
As gaming addiction had become a worldwide phenomenon, the World Health Organisation in 2018 included ‘Gaming Disorder’ in the 11th revision of the International Classification of Diseases as one of the mental disorders caused due to addictive behaviour alongside ‘Gambling Disorder’.
“Till recently one suggestion given to parents of gaming addicted children is to see that their wards spend less time on the phone by keeping it away and engaging them in some other activity. But with online classes becoming a must for many children, now there is no much scope,” says Dr. Vishal Indla, chief psychiatrist at VIMHANS.
Increasing cases
“Post lockdown the number of parents approaching us has increased. In the majority of the cases, parents realise the need for addressing the problem when their children start behaving strangely: having disturbed sleep, refusal to eat food and revolting when confronted. Gaming disorder can be better treated in the early stages and it is important to monitor children who play games,” he explains.
Online gaming has not only been a problem for children and youth but adults too get addicted to games that involve real money.
One of the games most played by adults is online rummy offered by various platforms on the internet.
Gambler’s Fallacy
Of late, women are also ending up in marital troubles due to addiction to online rummy games.
“We have seen cases of married women who lost a lot of money in online rummy without the knowledge of their partners and vice-versa. Such people go through a condition called gambler’s fallacy in which they think the money lost in numerous games could be won back in the next game,” Dr. Vishal says.
All the addicts have impulsive tendencies due to which they act without forethought and such people will be offered cognitive behaviour therapy with a focus on faulty thought process, he says.
Rummy federation
To streamline the issues of online rummy operators in the country, The Online Rummy Federation (TORF), a self-regulatory body has been established.
“The federation makes sure all its members follow the Code of Conduct aimed at protecting under-age players and addicts,” says TORF Chief Executive Officer Sameer Barde.
TORF and the rummy platforms have in place mechanisms to enforce the code of conduct and make players follow responsible gaming practices. Primarily, in paid gaming, only adults are allowed and one has to get an e-KYC done before one can play. The players’ behaviour will be assessed too, he says.
Regarding increasing patronage during lockdown, Mr. Sameer says that most of the new players are free players. On the whole, 94% of the online rummy players do not put in real money, he adds.
Addiction to online rummy has cost many careers and some of them are behind the bars for theft and fraud. In a recent case, a bank cashier in Nuzvid was arrested for diverting over ₹1.5 crore from customers’ bank accounts to his account to play online rummy.
